After Yeonpyeong, South Korea Buys More ARTHUR Radars

Sweden’s Saab Group announced a SEK 450 million (WON 77.04 billion, $69 million) subcontract order from South Korea’s LIG Nex1, for more of its ARTHUR artillery tracing radars. South Korea first ordered Saab’s Arthur Mod C in 2007, and this is a follow-on order. Saab adds that “The main part of the production for this program will be done at LIG Nex1 under a localisation agreement between Saab and LIG.”

ARTHUR is a stand alone medium-range passive phased array C-band radar that detects incoming shells and rockets, and determines where they were fired from before the shells can even land. The Mod C system has a larger antenna that can reportedly detect a mortar bomb at 55 km, shells at 31 km rockets at 50 – 60 km, locating targets at a rate of 100 per minute. North Korea has an awful lot of artillery tubes and ground-launched rockets, and the recent act of war on Yeonpyeong Island has a way of concentrating the mind. Fast artillery location and response is vital if South Korea wants to be able to offer immediate local counterstrikes, as opposed to escalating with air strikes into North Korea.

More than 60 ARTHUR systems have been sold, and are also used by the Czech Republic, Denmark, Greece, Norway, Spain, Sweden and UK. The system is often mounted on a tracked Bv206 all terrain light armored vehicle, but the photo accompanying this release shows the above truck-mounted system.